• Senator Palwasha says Musk’s narrative is reinforced by Indian entities.
• Starlink must be registered with the authorities before licensing: PTA.
• The committee decides to convene the supervisory body at the next meeting.
  

Senators expressed serious concerns over the potential registration of Starlink, an Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company, after the billionaire launched a days-long tirade against Pakistan on X linking British grooming gangs to Pakistanis.

The reservations were raised during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications on Wednesday, chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan at Parliament House, to discuss key issues including Starlink operations, the Personal Data Protection Act and the Telecom Authority’s performance.

The chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) briefed senators that the country’s first national space policy had been approved in 2023 and that relevant regulations were envisaged in 2024 followed by the establishment of the Pakistan Space Activities Regulatory Board (PSARB) – a body governed by the national Command Authority.

It added that any satellite service must have a mandatory registration with the concerned authorities to operate in Pakistan before getting a license from the PTA.

He stated that Musk’s Starlink had applied for a license in February 2022, which was sent to the Interior Ministry for safety approval. The telecom regulator added that the license would be issued to Starlink after its registration with the new supervisory board.

He further said that a Chinese company, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, was also coming to Pakistan, while any company could apply for a license to enter the country’s satellite communication market.

‘Musk should apologize’

“Elon Musk was involved in a social media campaign against Pakistan,” argued Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan and urged the concerned authorities to take note of what the SpaceX chief was propagating against the country.

“Why should we allow such people to do business here who speak against Pakistanis […] or he [Musk] should issue an apology,” Dr Afnan added.

To this, the PTA chairman clarified that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoI) has not given approval to Starlink and elaborated that Musk’s company had shared some unofficial documents that claimed the speed of the service to be 100 MBPS.

He added that Starlink would be a broadband service that could support entrepreneurs in remote areas of the country.

‘Immoral content’

Following the PTA chairman’s remarks, Senator Anusha Rahman raised tough questions about the telecom authority’s strategy to deal with “immoral content and implementation [of regulatory decisions]”.

She was of the view that they have witnessed the global development of broadband alongside internet disruption.

“Now you bring a product […] a satellite which is under the control of an aggressive person like Elon Musk. We would face many questions about immorality and implementation.”

She also questioned which regulatory body would deal with the said issues and who would monitor the content.

The PTA chairman claimed that Starlink would not run from satellite to satellite but would be operated through a gateway based in the country.

He added that the authority had relayed its concerns to Musk’s company, and in response it agreed to abide by government policies and assured that it would not circumvent the prevailing system. The service will also comply with government instructions to block certain content, he said.

It is noteworthy to mention here that Pakistan’s Foreign Office had also reacted strongly to a recent spate of “xenophobic remarks” and expressed deep concern over the increasingly racist and Islamophobic political and media commentary on the Pakistani community in the UK.

It also called for condemning the elements involved in demonizing such a large and diverse community on the basis of the actions of a few.

During the meeting, Senator Palwasha raised concerns about Musk’s repeated claims of grooming gangs in the UK consisting predominantly of Pakistani nationals, describing the narrative as targeted disinformation against Pakistan, further enhanced by the collaboration with Indian entities.

She questioned whether Starlink has approached the Pakistani authorities, leading to a hype in the national media. To this, the PTA chief replied that Musk’s controversial tweets had further fueled the debate.

The committee unanimously decided to call the already constituted supervisory body for briefing at the next meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that IT and Telecom Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said last month that Pakistan was in touch with Starlink to bring its services to the country.

Musk had also confirmed earlier this month that he was waiting for Islamabad’s approval to launch his satellite internet service.

The country has struggled with slow internet sporadically since last year, with the government consistently blaming submarine cable failures, while reports suggest possible experiments with a “firewall” by the authorities.